CHURCHES AND PUBS CLASH IN OUTER HEBRIDES BATTLE OVER THE DEMON DRINK

ONE of the last bastions of strict presbyterianism in the Outer Hebrides is
threatened by that old demon - drink.

Councillors in the Western Isles are to consider abandoning an age-old
custom which forbids pubs opening on the two Thursdays a year traditionally
set aside for religious contemplation.

The pub dram-ban on Holy Thursday - one in February, the other in August -
was introduced in the days when the presbyterian grip on 19th-century
island society was absolute.The two Thursdays, also known as communion
Thursdays, are days of fasting before biannual communion services the
following Sunday.

The same rules forbid pub opening on Christmas Day or New Year's Day.

Now under a wide ranging review of licensing laws councillors are to
balance traditional spiritual values against the demand for spirits in the
21st century. The review is already provoking hostility from the churches
in the strictly presbyterian Harris and Lewis. They will oppose any moves
to relax the ban.

The Rev John Macleod of the Free Presbyterian Church (the Wee Wee Frees) in
Stornoway politely declined on principle to explain his position yesterday
- - he will not speak to Sunday newspapers.

But he has made his position on drink and the relaxation of licensing laws
plain in the past. He is vehemently opposed.

The Rev Kenneth Stewart of the Free Church of Scotland (the Wee Frees) in
Stornoway said he had no particular difficulty with pub opening on
Christmas Day which is not recognised by most presbyterian churches as a
religious festival.

"I should be very against the relaxation of any ban on the two communion
Thursdays. There are those, not neccessarily churchgoers, who will feel
that to lift the ban is an erosion of a traditional way of life. Not to be
able to go to a pub on two days a year is not really too much to ask."

A Western Isles council report suggests that Christmas and New Year's Day
pub closures may no longer reflect opinion on the islands. "The communion
days are more difficult," it says.

But John Murray, a locally born former Antarctic whaler and Scotland Yard
detective who runs The Whaler's Rest pub in Stornoway, described the
licensing laws in the Outer Hebrides as "farcical". In particular, he is
angered about Sundays when all pubs are closed. But the British Legion,
Masonic and Anglers' clubs are among several expanding clubs that can stay
open on Sundays as well as the communion Thursdays because they are
governed by different legislation to pubs. Hotels can also serve drink on
Sundays and communion Thursdays.

"Either we all open or we all close," Murray said. Last year Murray and two
other publicans had applications for Sunday opening rejected.